10 Nov 2013: NEC - Ajax

[rjf1]

...Still don' t rate Serero...

I specifically watched for Serero having read all the negative comment about him in the forum, and I have to say that I thought he had a very good game -- did well defensively, made himself available for outlet passes, made a number of good passes, as well. I had no problem with him in this game.

[souras84]

Right now, everything seems so sweet. We win, most others drop points!! Aaaah life...

[Orange14]

Relatively straightforward win against a mediocre opponent. Got some good results from the other matches today as Twente draw and PSV lose. Good to see both fullbacks pressing forward I guess FdB is pretty comfortable with the abilities of Veltman/Denswil to mop up if there is a problem. Blind may have suffered a knock and came off pretty early. Still cannot believe Sigthorrson's miss of an open net!

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (6) - had almost nothing to do and the only danger came off a deflection that hit his crossbar (he couldn't have saved it)
Boilesen (7) - really nice match today, comfortable on the ball and really going forward with speed; nice pass to de Jong for the first goal
Denswil (6) - bad giveaway in the first half and it should have been punished but otherwise a good match
Veltman (7) - continues to show a great deal of poise and his position on defense is outstanding
van Rhijn (6) - didn't have to defend much and went forward more and more as the match went on but about half his crosses were quite poor
Blind (5.5) - just a shade above average, his entry passes were too slow and easily intercepted
Serero (5.5) - not horrible today but it really looks like he is afraid to press forward; he receives the ball and makes a quick back pass 90% of the time
Klaasen (6.5) - did a nice job on the ball and seemed to have a good sense of where to pass it
Sigthorrson (5.5) - great save to cross the ball across the goal mouth; terrible shot when he beat the keeper to open up the goal
de Jong (6.5) - nice game and showed that he has the quickest shot of all the strikers
Schöne (6.5) - not a natural wing player but did fine today, manages to keep possession even when challenged
Poulsen (7) - fine coming on for Blind, good entry passing and mopped up when NEC tried to break
Fischer (5.5) - not terribly involved coming on for the final 20 minutes
Hoesen (5) - one weak shot on goal

International break coming up next weekend and a home match with Barcelona at the end of the month. We are currently two points behind the Russian backed Chelsea reserve club and will drop down to third place following the AZ/Feyenoord match (it's just a question of which of those two move above us).

[Cedric]

PSV lost again (2-1 at NAC) and they have a sweet program : SC Heerenveen at home, Feyenoord away, Vitesse at home.

[Orange14]

...Still don' t rate Serero...

I specifically watched for Serero having read all the negative comment about him in the forum, and I have to say that I thought he had a very good game -- did well defensively, made himself available for outlet passes, made a number of good passes, as well. I had no problem with him in this game.

Most of his passes are back passes as he seldom turns to look at the field at the attacking end. Maybe he just does not have any confidence to take on a defender or that he just is not physical enough. He always has tracked back well to help out defending it's just that he doesn't have the offensive skills to add anything to the team but he was better today.

[SPL]

Serero did better today , although the oppostion was very poor, more of his forward passes ended up with team mates today ,they did not the other night . I am not a fan and I too don't think he has the offensive skills to add anything to our team.Our 2 attacking MF's should come from Schone Duarte Klaassen and Andersen with Lobotka possibly coming into the squad after the winter break.

Football is all about opinions.

[Kowalczyk]

It's embarrassing, but this was our first away win of the season...

Goodness.

Now let's keep it up! The Celtic/NEC formation (Blind in midfield, Sigthórsson on the left, Siem striker, etc.) seems to be working, so let's keep it like this for a while, although the Celtic and NEC games were not great. I thought Ajax were better in Glasgow than at the ArenA against Celtic, and they also played better away games in the league than this one at NEC. But the players are happier with this line-up, so let's give it a shot. No replacements (sorry, Niklas Moisander).

K.

[Rooie]

Will be interesting to see what happens when Duarte and Bojan return. I think it might be bad news for Serero and Sigthorsson.